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New report: Massive collusion amongst German automakers

Three bosses of five German car firms accused of secretly meeting since the 1990s to set collective lower-than-regulated quality standards have called the claims speculative. Spiegel made the allegations on Friday.

The latest edition of German news magazine Der Spiegel reported on Friday that all the major German car makers - Volkswagen, Porsche, Audi, BMW and Daimler, maker of the Mercedes-Benz and Smart brands - have been engaged in what could be a massive case of industrial collusion.

The report shows that the companies have been secretly meeting in various working groups since the 1990s, where they agreed on technologies, costs, suppliers and even how to work on emissions from diesel engines.

Speculation

"We do not comment on speculation and presuppositions on the basis of Spiegel's reporting," Volkswagen CEO Matthias Müller told the Rheinische Post newspaper.

BMW, meanwhile, told Spiegel it would not participate in speculation.

According to Spiegel, the EU Commission is already examining the case and has confiscated documents from the companies involved and called the first witnesses.

Germany's Minister of Transport Alexander Dobrindt said: "Anti-trust agreements would be an additional burden on the issue we are currently facing in the automotive industry. The antitrust authorities need to investigate the allegations in detail and draw the necessary consequences."

According to Volkswagen's disclosure, 200 employees of the companies met more than 60 times. The letter also acknowledged that such cooperation between the country's large car manufacturers could have included "behavior infringing antitrust law."

This is of particular interest now, with the growing and on-going diesel emissions scandal. Besides discussing the price of steel, the report says that specifics about the software used to help cheat emissions tests were discussed numerous times.

Ever since Volkswagen admitted adding emissions-cheating software, investigators around the world have been taking a closer look at the inner workings of large manufacturers. As the scandals widen to include more areas and more companies, the damage to the German car industry is immense and the "Made in Germany" brand is suffering.

So far the companies involved have declined to comment on their latest headache.